As I said when I posted my Top 10, after the Top 9, there were myriad shows that could have rounded out my list.

Click through for my Second 10. As promised, after keeping my Top 10 to a sacred and unembellished 10, my Second 10 is full of cheats, including one thematic tie, one production block and one limited segment of a year that was otherwise kinda dismal.

11) “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” – Start with Fat Mac, add a dead hooker, an alcohol-infused ham, a baby funeral, a made-up uber-board game, an adventure to retrieve a stolen vase, a city-wide trek to a hot Hollywood blockbuster and a high school reunion from Hell. I don’t know if “Sunny” necessarily hit the string of highs that the show reached in Season 2, but it certainly delivered its most consistently hilarious and delightfully damaged season yet. “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” has a set formula, but kudos to the entire team for continually finding new ways to turn that formula on its head.

12) “Boardwalk Empire” – HBO’s Golden Globe-winning drama slipped out of my Top 10 in its second season. It wasn’t that “Boardwalk Empire” saw any decline in its tremendous production values or in the top-to-bottom excellence of its cast. In fact, Michael Pitt made a big leap forward and deserves strong Emmy consideration next year, while stars Kelly MacDonald and Steve Buscemi deserve to keep their nomination slots. But maybe “Boardwalk Empire” was just a little more narratively diffuse this season. Maybe the show kept following its best episodes with weaker episodes. Maybe too many favorite characters vanished for long and improperly explained stretches. However, as uncertain as I was about the show’s direction through the middle of the season, I loved the two episodes that completed the season and that pushed Jimmy Darmody’s into dark places that were both expected and unexpected. I’m highly intrigued by the new paradigm that Season 3 promises.

13) “Shameless” – When you build a TV show around an Emmy-winning, Oscar nominated star, you wouldn’t think it’d be a good sign when your toplining thespian is upstaged by a slew of unknown child actors and half of the cast of “Dragonball: Evolution.” In the case of Showtime’s “Shameless,” William H. Macy has been showy and often fun, but it’s the performances by folks like Cameron Monaghan, Jeremy Allen White, Emma Kenney and especially Emmy Rossum that have brought life to the saga of the Gallaghers, easily TV’s most dysfunctional family. Seriously, how has Rossum not even been NOMINATED for best actress by the Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG voters? Maybe it has something to do with Showtime’s conviction that just because “Shameless” is an hour-long, it must be a drama, rather than the demented, pitch-black comedy that it is.

14) “Community” – If I were to only concentrate on highlight episodes, “Community” would probably be in my Top 5. “Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.” “Intermedia Documentary Filmmaking.” “Critical Film Studies.” “A Fistful of Paintballs.” “Remedial Chaos Theory.” “Documentary Filmmaking: Redux.” Those are some standout episodes. And I’m not even one of those people who thinks that when “Community” episodes are bad, they’re awful. With a cast this good and writers this smart and innovative, even the less-than-mind-blowing episodes feature laughs, usually frequent. My complaint: “Community” has begun to read its own clippings and the show has unearthed a vein of smugness that sometimes flies entirely under the radar, but sometimes consumes the entire show. “Community” is very rarely bad, but it’s frequently just a little too proud of itself. I’m still gonna miss it while NBC keeps the show on the shelf.

15) “Treme” – Like “Boardwalk Empire,” “Treme” is another HBO drama that didn’t work for me *quite* as well in its second season. David Simon’s sprawling post-Katrina New Orleans saga sprawled even more in its second season and many of the pieces never quite came together. I hate to make Jon Seda the whipping boy for all of my Season 2 problems, but boy oh boy was that a plotline that was stuck in a conventional rut for its duration. Melissa Leo’s Toni was also trapped in a confusing and ultimately uninteresting procedural investigation. In both instances, I could see the institutional commentary Simon was trying to make, but I didn’t get much value from the way he chose to make it. And I’ll leave it for you to decide if you enjoyed Janette’s culinary adventures in New York City (I actually did). But “Treme” has always been a show that was more valuable as a pointillist tableau than when you stopped and scrutinized any single storytelling dot. The world of Simon’s New Orleans is so fully inhabited and nearly every performance is so authentic and honest that “Treme” has become a show that makes me happier when I sit back and experience its sights and sounds and rhythms than when I try to take notes on what might or might not be happening.

16) “Survivor: Redemption Island” – Set aside your feelings about Special Agent Phillip Sheppard and his possible delusions. Forget, if you will, Matt Elrod’s weird combination of religiously dogmatic challenge dominance and utterly brain-dead in-game strategy. Try to repress that this was yet another Russell Hantz season of “Survivor,” albeit his briefest performance to date. Instead, just think back on the sheer joy of watching Boston Rob dominate a “Survivor” season for 39 days of physical, mental and strategic excellence. The competition may not have been all that impressive and this may, in fact, not have been Boston Rob’s best “Survivor” game ever, but there was something unspeakably satisfying to actually concluding a “Survivor” season with 100 percent certainty that the most deserving player walked away with the million. [Note: If you’re one of those people who doesn’t like Boston Rob, you clearly won’t agree with this placement. Also, what’s wrong with you?]

17) “Awkward” and “Switched at Birth” – File these two together as teen-skewing summertime cable surprises. Created by Lauren Iungerich, “Awkard” represented a huge leap forward for MTV’s scripted development department, a raunchy, smart and sometimes hilarious look at life as a high school outcast that managed to be relatable for outcasts of all ages. “Awkward” included a breakout performance by Ashley Rickards and some of the saltiest, vernacular-twisting dialogue this side of Diablo Cody. And if “Awkward” made its bones from dialogue, “Switched at Birth” stood out with silence. ABC Family’s new hit took a premise that could have wallowed in sensationalism — The kids were switched at birth and one of them is DEAF!!! — and instead treated it with admirable integrity and illuminating honesty. Vanessa Marano confirmed the potential from promising appearances on “Gilmore Girls” and “Dexter,” Katie Leclerc was an impressive new discovery and more than a few fans will tell you that the show truly found itself when the writers realized how good Sean Berdy was.

18) “Bob’s Burgers” – It only premiered in the spring, but “Bob’s Burgers” quickly carved out a place as network TV’s wackiest animated half-hour. As with all Loren Bouchard shows, “Bob’s Burgers” has a sensibility that requires a little getting used to, but fans who honed that sensibility got to enjoy marvelously absurd episodes like “Sheesh! Cab, Bob?,” “Lobsterfest” and the sublime “Art Crawl” as the season progressed. Special kudos to the “Bob’s Burgers” vocal talent, including H. Jon Benjamin, John Roberts, Kristen Schaal, Eugene Mirman and Dan Mintz.

19) ESPN Films – ESPN’s landmark “30 for 30” franchise came to an end in 2010, but the sports network continued its commitment to quality sports-related documentary programming in 2011. For my money, Alex Gibney’s “Catching Hell” would have had a place among the best of the “30 for 30” docs, while “The Fab Five,” “The Real Rocky,” “Unguarded” and “The Marinovich Project” were a cut above as well. Without the “30 for 30” brand name, the ESPN Films docs may not have been appointment viewing in quite the same way — I skipped three or four of them, which would have been unheard-of with “30 for 30” — but I hope that ESPN sticks with longform non-fiction programming like this. It’s good for the network and good for sports fans as well.

20) The end of Steve Carell’s run on “The Office” – Forget about the first after of Season 7 of “The Office” (though the dark twists of “Classy Christmas” have merit). Forget about most of the home stretch of Season 7 and almost all of Season 8 of “The Office.” Instead, concentrate on how well “The Office” executed its farewell to Steve Carell’s Michael Scott, culminating in the supersized “Goodbye, Michael” last April. Much credit must be given to Carell, who never sacrificed his character’s essential Michael Scottiness, but still delivered both laughs and sadness with a nuance that should have earned him an Emmy under any reasonable circumstances. I was a vocal critic of the idea that “The Office” needed to end with Michael’s departure, but seeing how the writers have struggled to pick up the slack in his absence, I may be reevaluating.

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Damn Skippy. Top 10s are sacred. Top 20s are BS anyway, so might as well go crazy, Broadway-style!

By: Lisa

12.25.2011 @ 3:36 AM

Springfield, Springfield! It’s a hell of a toowwwwwwwwnn!

By: Adam B.

12.25.2011 @ 2:44 AM

Lots lots more better involve GOOD WIFE. But thanks for recognizing Survivor, the one shining light in an otherwise-bleh year for reality tv overall. What happened to competition shows over the past five years? The Race has gotten bleh, Top Model near-unwatchable and Idol just plain boring. At least Survivor still delivers … at least half the time, anyway.

By: keith

12.25.2011 @ 2:45 AM

Harmon likes notes. Tell him ‘smug’ to his beautiful fat face.

By: Justin

12.25.2011 @ 5:02 AM

You don’t like the “smugness” of Community but you like Boston Rob? What’s wrong with YOU?

By: dan

12.26.2011 @ 8:51 PM

Justin – Different types of smugness, I suppose? But yes. Boston Rob is hella smug. I can’t argue with that. At all…

-Daniel

By: Jeff B

12.25.2011 @ 2:27 PM

Dan:

I want to thank you for the best holidy present ever, Vampire Diaries. I listen to the podcast and when you put the show in your top ten I decided to dive in on Netflix streaming. My wife (39), my daughter (9) and me (43) are plowing through them. At dinner last night we had a spirited debate of where the show ranks compared to Buffy and Angel.

Great find.

Thanks,

Jeff

By: Paul Outlaw

12.25.2011 @ 6:29 PM

Better than Buffy and Angel at this point. It remains to be seen if I can stay on top with succeeding seasons.

You could substitute Torv with any actor and it would have been just as good.

By: dan

12.26.2011 @ 8:54 PM

Sareeta – I think Season 3 of “Fringe” would have made my Second 10 for sure, but I really haven’t liked S.4 at ALL…

-Daniel

By: Sareeta

12.26.2011 @ 10:05 PM

Mulderism: Yes, Anna was great. She flawlessly pulled off two distinct versions of Olivia (Olivia and Fauxlivia) and yes, I liked Bellivia as well.

Dan: Agreed. Season 3 was really great, but I didn’t care for the 6 or 7 eps of season 4 that I’ve seen. I’m hoping it will get better as the season plays out.

By: Mulderism

12.27.2011 @ 12:13 AM

The only thing that Torv did different for the other Olivia (I can’t refer to them by fanboy names like Fauxlivia, Walternate, etc) was that she smiled more. No great stretch there.

By: Mulderism

12.25.2011 @ 9:57 PM

I like Boston Rob. He’s a good character.

But is it fair to pit him up against newbies? Did any of them really stand a chance? Sure he theoretically should have had a target on his back but it was pretty unlikely he was going to get voted out early since Probst touted his past experience.

I just doesn’t sit well with me. We’ve seen that returning players last quite a while. I smacks of Probst just giving his buddies another shot at the expense of other players.

I would only want to see returning players in an All-Star season. Then it would be fair. B’rob didn’t fare too well when he was playing with other experienced players.

I’ve always like Survivor and tuned in since season 1. But I haven’t enjoyed in much these past few years. Probably the last one I liked was Heroes v Villains. Ever since then they have had unlikeable casts (i.e. naonka) and dumb gimmicks like Redemption Island and this trend of bringing back returnees.

Survivor already has the winning formula. They just need to trust themselves and return to it (e.g. Australian Outback, Africa). There are more B’robs and Russells waiting to be discovered.

Also a new host wouldn’t hurt either. Colby would be a good candidate.

By: dan

12.26.2011 @ 7:29 PM

Mulderism – The fix was TOTALLY in for Boston Rob. But that didn’t make it less satisfying, at least for me.

-Daniel

By: Bunk

12.26.2011 @ 5:39 PM

Sons of Anarchy doesn’t get mentioned, but Survivor makes the list!? I’m confused.

By: dan

12.26.2011 @ 7:28 PM

I like “Survivor” more than I liked “Sons of Anarchy” this past season. That was easy! These things are subjective, of course!

-Daniel

By: Fritanga

12.26.2011 @ 6:38 PM

“My complaint: “Community” has begun to read its own clippings and the show has unearthed a vein of smugness that sometimes flies entirely under the radar, but sometimes consumes the entire show. “Community” is very rarely bad, but it’s frequently just a little too proud of itself.”

Thank you. This encapsulates perfectly why I’m no longer the rabid fan I once was. There’s nothing worse than when series producers start believing their own press.

Actually, I think the smugness is a sort of defense rooted in complete insecurity: “We’re great, but none of you plebes ever GOT IT.” Yeah.

By: Erika Herzog

12.27.2011 @ 12:58 PM

thank you for mentioning #17 – Awkward. and Switched at Birth. these two shows were quietly amazing. Awkward. had me gasping — Molly Tarlov as Sadie Saxton was ingenious. and i was just so glad to watch a show with deaf kids where it wasn’t after school special time. i would be sitting there intensely focused on a scene and then realize it was being conducted completely in silence. so cool!!! great shows that didn’t get a lot of notice among all the gunk out there so thanks a lot for highlighting them.

By: Heisenberg

12.27.2011 @ 3:59 PM

Like the mentions of other shows and agreed with FNL as your Number 1 overall, but no love for The Good Wife is a bit sketchy.

Can’t wait to see your worst of 2011. I know H8R will be Number 1, but can’t wait to see where Californication and The Event rank.

By: dan

12.27.2011 @ 6:26 PM

Heisenberg – But “The Good Wife” was totally part of the “lots, lots more…” Or *was* it?

As for the Worst list, it’ll be in podcast form later today and in editorial gallery form later this week. The only thing I’ll reveal is that as I didn’t watch a *second* of the last “Californication” season, it’s not there… Otherwise? Stay tuned!

-Daniel

By: Mia Monroe

12.29.2011 @ 1:12 AM

Very happy to see Shameless! Those kids are a joy to waych! Can’t wait for season 2 and for the podcast review.

By: Greg

12.30.2011 @ 5:17 PM

Dan, are you just trying to give some attention to shows that most people underestimate or do you really feel that Switched at Birth and Awkward. are better than 30 Rock, Archer, et. all? Don’t take this question as a way to criticize your list, which is certainly not my intention. I just don’t remember you saying anything so positive about those two shows.